Yeah, I think the only traction on the speculation of him going to Pittsburgh are based on Shero wanting him bad, Shero drafting him when he was the GM of Nashville, and the rumors of Parise going to the Pens (supposedly Suter is really good friends with Parise).

St. Louis has been heavily underrated for the Suter sweepstakes; they're a top destination for Suter, and only haven't gotten coverage because Doug "GM of the Year" Armstrong keeps his cards close and doesn't reveal anything he's working on.

Let me break it down for y'all:

The rumors say his top spots are Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville. Those are all pretty good, well-respected teams, but every single one of them finished behind the St. Louis Blues in the standings. If he was going to sign with a divisional rival, then why not pick the young up-and-coming rival that took the Central? Those teams might stay the course, but the Blues just added Vladimir Tarasenko & Jaden Schwartz to an already-jacked roster.

Suter and the Blues would be a match made in heaven. He would be the All-Star defenseman the Blues want to partner with 22 year-old Alex Pietrangelo, who finished ahead of Shea Weber in scoring last season and will only continue to get better.

Money won't be as much of a factor for the Blues as it used to be. New ownership has deeper pockets than it lets on, and Stillman has enough hockey sense to know when to pull the trigger on a good deal. Armstrong might even be able to talk him into a bargain.

Supposedly Suter wants to sign somewhere in the Midwest; St. Louis is as Midwest as it gets. David Backes sweet-talked fellow Minnesotan Jamie Langenbrunner into signing with St. Louis and could probably do the same with Suter. He wouldn't regret it either, since I haven't heard a single athlete say anything bad about the time they spent in the Gateway City.

When you break it down to the fundamentals, St. Louis seems perfect for Suter. I just don't see why he wouldn't end up signing there.

St. Louis has been heavily underrated for the Suter sweepstakes; they're a top destination for Suter, and only haven't gotten coverage because Doug "GM of the Year" Armstrong keeps his cards close and doesn't reveal anything he's working on.

Let me break it down for y'all:

The rumors say his top spots are Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville. Those are all pretty good, well-respected teams, but every single one of them finished behind the St. Louis Blues in the standings. If he was going to sign with a divisional rival, then why not pick the young up-and-coming rival that took the Central? Those teams might stay the course, but the Blues just added Vladimir Tarasenko & Jaden Schwartz to an already-jacked roster.

Suter and the Blues would be a match made in heaven. He would be the All-Star defenseman the Blues want to partner with 22 year-old Alex Pietrangelo, who finished ahead of Shea Weber in scoring last season and will only continue to get better.

Money won't be as much of a factor for the Blues as it used to be. New ownership has deeper pockets than it lets on, and Stillman has enough hockey sense to know when to pull the trigger on a good deal. Armstrong might even be able to talk him into a bargain.

Supposedly Suter wants to sign somewhere in the Midwest; St. Louis is as Midwest as it gets. David Backes sweet-talked fellow Minnesotan Jamie Langenbrunner into signing with St. Louis and could probably do the same with Suter. He wouldn't regret it either, since I haven't heard a single athlete say anything bad about the time they spent in the Gateway City.

When you break it down to the fundamentals, St. Louis seems perfect for Suter. I just don't see why he wouldn't end up signing there.

I agree. I think people are leaving STL and, in my opinion, Colorado, entirely out of the race for Suter. Both seem to fit his non-hockey needs to the core.

People should be more worried about these darkhorses. Suter is a country boy.

St. Louis has been heavily underrated for the Suter sweepstakes; they're a top destination for Suter, and only haven't gotten coverage because Doug "GM of the Year" Armstrong keeps his cards close and doesn't reveal anything he's working on.

Let me break it down for y'all:

The rumors say his top spots are Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville. Those are all pretty good, well-respected teams, but every single one of them finished behind the St. Louis Blues in the standings. If he was going to sign with a divisional rival, then why not pick the young up-and-coming rival that took the Central? Those teams might stay the course, but the Blues just added Vladimir Tarasenko & Jaden Schwartz to an already-jacked roster.

Suter and the Blues would be a match made in heaven. He would be the All-Star defenseman the Blues want to partner with 22 year-old Alex Pietrangelo, who finished ahead of Shea Weber in scoring last season and will only continue to get better.

Money won't be as much of a factor for the Blues as it used to be. New ownership has deeper pockets than it lets on, and Stillman has enough hockey sense to know when to pull the trigger on a good deal. Armstrong might even be able to talk him into a bargain.

Supposedly Suter wants to sign somewhere in the Midwest; St. Louis is as Midwest as it gets. David Backes sweet-talked fellow Minnesotan Jamie Langenbrunner into signing with St. Louis and could probably do the same with Suter. He wouldn't regret it either, since I haven't heard a single athlete say anything bad about the time they spent in the Gateway City.

When you break it down to the fundamentals, St. Louis seems perfect for Suter. I just don't see why he wouldn't end up signing there.

David Poile intimated today the he thinks Suter circle back before signing with another team. He didn't come right out and say "we'll get a chance to match," but that's what the subtext implied.

I think it's about 60 percent that he winds up back in Nashville, with the other 40 percent going to any other team. I think the way he would NOT sign back with the Predators would be an offer substantially higher somewhere else.

also might not be cap hit as much as term... Poile will be skittish to go beyond 7 years due to lack of insurability, and if another team offers 10-12 years, Poile may have to pass even if he could match the cap hit..

St. Louis has been heavily underrated for the Suter sweepstakes; they're a top destination for Suter, and only haven't gotten coverage because Doug "GM of the Year" Armstrong keeps his cards close and doesn't reveal anything he's working on.

Let me break it down for y'all:

The rumors say his top spots are Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville. Those are all pretty good, well-respected teams, but every single one of them finished behind the St. Louis Blues in the standings. If he was going to sign with a divisional rival, then why not pick the young up-and-coming rival that took the Central? Those teams might stay the course, but the Blues just added Vladimir Tarasenko & Jaden Schwartz to an already-jacked roster.

Suter and the Blues would be a match made in heaven. He would be the All-Star defenseman the Blues want to partner with 22 year-old Alex Pietrangelo, who finished ahead of Shea Weber in scoring last season and will only continue to get better.

Money won't be as much of a factor for the Blues as it used to be. New ownership has deeper pockets than it lets on, and Stillman has enough hockey sense to know when to pull the trigger on a good deal. Armstrong might even be able to talk him into a bargain.

Supposedly Suter wants to sign somewhere in the Midwest; St. Louis is as Midwest as it gets. David Backes sweet-talked fellow Minnesotan Jamie Langenbrunner into signing with St. Louis and could probably do the same with Suter. He wouldn't regret it either, since I haven't heard a single athlete say anything bad about the time they spent in the Gateway City.

When you break it down to the fundamentals, St. Louis seems perfect for Suter. I just don't see why he wouldn't end up signing there.

You make a lot of valid points, but let me ask you this:

Has St. Louis displayed the on-ice longevity and year-after-year elite compete level that the Red Wings have shown?

Has St. Louis' ownership and front office group shown the constant year-after-year commitment to doing (and spending) whatever it takes to exhibit a world-class product on the ice?

Will St. Louis be willing to pay the massive contract that Suter will earn with said Petro and Shatty already implanted as top-4 staples on he Blues' back-end? Detroit has the financial power to outbid a team like the Blues 10/10 times if this becomes a bidding war…keep all of this in mind.

Has St. Louis displayed the on-ice longevity and year-after-year elite compete level that the Red Wings have shown?

Has St. Louis' ownership and front office group shown the constant year-after-year commitment to doing (and spending) whatever it takes to exhibit a world-class product on the ice?

Will St. Louis be willing to pay the massive contract that Suter will earn with said Petro and Shatty already implanted as top-4 staples on he Blues' back-end? Detroit has the financial power to outbid a team like the Blues 10/10 times if this becomes a bidding war…keep all of this in mind.

You make some pretty good points too. Detroit has much more credibility than St. Louis, I'll admit, but Suter's massive contract is going to have term and he'll be questioning the futures of both teams too. Three of the Red Wings' Top Five scorers are over the age of 30, only two of the Blues' were over 24.

I will admit that the Blues' previous ownership did not show that much commitment to winning, but John Davidson and Doug Armstrong (among others) have done their best with the budget they had. They have put their hearts and souls into their organization, and if new ownership really wanted to show a commitment to winning they would go all out to add that final piece to the club.

I am cautious, though, since I do believe that Detroit has the ability and resolve to sign Suter, and would probably take the Blues in a bidding war. I'm not sure where he'll end up, but July 1st will definitely be interesting.

In light of Wideman getting 5.25 and Matt Carle being suggested between 5.5-6M AAV, is Suter going to be looking at 8.5-9M AAV or do you think someone goes 10 years to try to deflate it down to 7.5M or so?

I don't think he will be coming to Chicago so I just hope he gets out of the conference. He will become instantly hated if he signs with the Wings though, let them keep looking for Lidstrom's replacement.

also might not be cap hit as much as term... Poile will be skittish to go beyond 7 years due to lack of insurability, and if another team offers 10-12 years, Poile may have to pass even if he could match the cap hit..

That's a valid point, but I think Poile would have the go-ahead to sign him to a longer term if that's what it takes. If Nashville really wants to shed the "team on a budget" image and start to compete with the perennial favorites both on the ice and in the wallet they absolutely cannot let a thing like a lack of insurability come between the team and one half of the best defensive pairing in the league.

Letting something like that hang up a deal would send shockwaves. Weber certainly wouldn't sign. He was the first one to have cold feet due to how the team has lost players in the past once they got too expensive (a lot of that happening right after Weber's first full season when there was a firesale to reduce salary as much as possible before the sale).

A clear message would not only be sent to Weber and his teammates, but to the fan base, too. Maybe it wouldn't be as big of a deal had the owners not decided to talk about how they will be spending towards the cap ceiling going forward, but since they have talked about that there is no way things can remain business-as-usual. Not if they want to continue to build on already huge successes in growing the interest for the team.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PredsV82

I will vomit if Suter goes to Detroit but will grudgingly understand and eventually accept it..

I will vomit blood and burn a Suter effigy if he ends up in St Louis...

I think that is a fair description of what will be going on with me. At least when Kariya left for St Louis he had a valid reason, and both he and the team were underwhelming during that stretch. Now the Blues are pretty damn good, and there is no way in hell Suter would play poorly there.

That's a valid point, but I think Poile would have the go-ahead to sign him to a longer term if that's what it takes. If Nashville really wants to shed the "team on a budget" image and start to compete with the perennial favorites both on the ice and in the wallet they absolutely cannot let a thing like a lack of insurability come between the team and one half of the best defensive pairing in the league.

Letting something like that hang up a deal would send shockwaves. Weber certainly wouldn't sign. He was the first one to have cold feet due to how the team has lost players in the past once they got too expensive (a lot of that happening right after Weber's first full season when there was a firesale to reduce salary as much as possible before the sale).

A clear message would not only be sent to Weber and his teammates, but to the fan base, too. Maybe it wouldn't be as big of a deal had the owners not decided to talk about how they will be spending towards the cap ceiling going forward, but since they have talked about that there is no way things can remain business-as-usual. Not if they want to continue to build on already huge successes in growing the interest for the team.

I think that is a fair description of what will be going on with me. At least when Kariya left for St Louis he had a valid reason, and both he and the team were underwhelming during that stretch. Now the Blues are pretty damn good, and there is no way in hell Suter would play poorly there.

if Suter does indeed leave NSH, who do you think they target in the market. I was thinking Matt Carle, but the rumor mill is pointing to COL. Maybe a trad to replace Suter?